THIS WEEK: This will be the 17th NASCAR Cup race at Chicagoland, which has been hosting NASCAR since 2001. ... This is the first race of the 10-race NASCAR Cup playoffs, with 16 drivers battling it out for the 2017 championship. ... Martin Truex Jr., who is the No. 1 seed in this year's playoffs, is the defending winner at last year's race at Chicagoland. Denny Hamlin won in 2015 and Brad Keselowski has won two of the last five races there (2012 and 2014). Matt Kenseth won in 2013. ... Kyle Larson won last Saturday's race at Richmond Raceway. ... Among news stories this week, Smithfield Foods has left Richard Petty Motorsports and will be primary sponsor for either the No. 41 or No. 10 teams of Stewart Haas Racing next season. Who will drive those cars is to be determined. Also, Danica Patrick will not return to the team next season. Whether she continues racing in the sport is uncertain. Also, Aric Almirola announced he is leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of this season. He has not said with which team he'll drive next season. A likely replacement will for Almirola in the No. 43 Ford at RPM will be Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. ... Here's how the playoff standings begin this week: Truex is No. 1 with 2,053 points, followed by Larson (2,033), Kyle Busch (2,029), Keselowski (2,019), Jimmie Johnson (2,017), Kevin Harvick (2,015), Hamlin (2,013), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2,010), Ryan Blaney (2,008), Chase Elliott (2,006), Ryan Newman (2,005), Kurt Busch (2,005), Kasey Kahne (2,005), Austin Dillon (2,005), Kenseth (2,005) and Jamie McMurray (2,003).

THIS WEEK: This is the 17th race of 2017 and also the season finale for the IndyCar Series. ... Alexander Rossi won the last race two weeks ago at Watkins Glen. Scott Dixon was second, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay. ... Winners of the first 16 races have been Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Alabama, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Gateway) Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix), Will Power (IndyCar Grand Prix), Takuma Sato (Indy 500), Graham Rahal (both Belle Isle races), Power (Texas, Pocono), Scott Dixon (Road America), Helio Castroneves (Iowa) and Alexander Rossi (Watkins Glen). ... Newgarden (560 points) remains No. 1 in the point standings, followed by Dixon (557), Helio Castroneves (538 points), Pagenaud (526), Power (492), Rossi (476), Rahal (466), Sato (421), Tony Kanaan (375) and Hunter-Reay (373). ... Newgarden, Dixon, Castroneves (may be making his final career start for Team Penske; he may race for another team next season if he parts ways with Team Penske), Pagenaud (the defending series champion) and Power are all in contention for the championship. That means there's an 80 percent chance that Team Penske will win the title, as four of the five finalists race for Team Penske.